“Aviva to divest from coal companies”, 27 Jul 2015

UK insurer Aviva will sell the shares it holds in coal companies unless they prove they are making progress to reducing their carbon footprint to help ease the effects of climate change over the next year… ‘Where we think a company is not making sufficient progress towards the engagement goals set, we will divest,’ [said] Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson…Aviva commissioned [a report] from the Economist Intelligence Unit on the potential cost to investors of climate change. The report concludes that climate change will inflict massive losses on investors across their entire portfolio, even if they shift away from asset classes considered vulnerable, through slower growth and lower asset returns alone…Divestment is one of five points in Aviva’s strategy to fight climate change. The company says it also plans to invest $3.9 bn over the next five years in low-carbon infrastructure, push for a solid greenhouse gas reduction goal at UN-sponsored climate talks in Paris in December and ‘actively engage with companies to achieve climate-resilient business strategies.’…